Profitec Pro 600 - inconsistent shot times

Need help with equipment usage or want to share your latest discovery?
new_espresso
Posts: 1
Joined: 3 years ago

#1: Post by new_espresso »

Hi Everyone,
New to the forum and looking for some help. I have a profitec 600 / Eureka Specialita and I'll be damned if I can pull two equivalently prepped (18gm, no changes to grind, similar tamp) shots in the same time. The first comes out too fast (30gm in ~ 20s) and the second too slow (30gm in ~40s). Anyone have thoughts on what's going on?

Thanks so much,

Patrick

BodieZoffa
Posts: 408
Joined: 3 years ago

#2: Post by BodieZoffa »

First thought is likely a bit of stale/leftover coffee in the grinder from the previous use. First use of the day would purge that stale out, leaving you with a fast extraction. Second extraction at the same grind setting does tend to cause things to slow down a bit. More detail added would help to be honest...

PIXIllate
Supporter ♡
Posts: 1331
Joined: 4 years ago

#3: Post by PIXIllate »

Patrick,

Welcome to HB and the start of your journey down this often frustrating rabbit hole of a tiny drink called espresso. First off you have my sympathies, I've been where you are and it's no fun at all.

I'm afraid there's no way around the home truth that the answer, most likely, is it's you. I know, that sounds unfair and judgmental and I felt the same way, but none the less it's still probably you. And maybe somewhat your grinder (running 5-15 pounds of coffee through a grinder for break in and increased stability is a thing), but still mainly you. And maybe the coffee a tiny bit if it's really fresh (under 7 days) or really stale (a few months old), but still mainly you. Sensing a theme?

The importance of puck prep is almost impossible to overstate. No matter how consistent you think you're being you can always be better. I have really good days now where my shots run within 1-2 seconds of each other back to back but there are quite a few days that's not the case. When I switched to my Monolith grinder things got more consistent but also even more demanding of puck prep.

Best practice for puck prep is to get a funnel and a WDT tool made with 0.4mm acupuncture needles or buy the Levercraft WDT tool (what I did after using a homemade one). I also recommend a tamper that levels itself against the basket to remove yet another variable. Here is an older video I shot with my old grinder and WDT tool. I'm exaggerating some of the steps for clarity in the video but this is the basic routine. I now do a final light leveling stir of the top of the grounds at the end after I remove the funnel and before I tamp.

I hope this helps. Give yourself 6 months and try to get a bit better and more consistent each day.